Leader of pilots union at United Airlines flies new approach in contract talks

Capt. Wendy Morse will eschew some harsh tactics of predecessor, but gaining higher wages is still main goal

January 08, 2010|By Julie Johnsson, TRIBUNE REPORTER

Relations between airline pilots and their management teams, rarely cordial, have been bitter beyond belief for much of the last decade at United Airlines.

But a change at the top of the chain of command at United's most powerful union holds the promise of bringing some civility to negotiations as contract talks intensify, even if the two sides remain deeply divided on such issues as pay and outsourcing.

Capt. Wendy Morse, who became head of United's pilots union on Jan. 1, vowed Thursday to drop some of the abrasive maneuvers employed by her predecessor, Capt. Steve Wallach, known as a firebrand.

This doesn't imply she'll be any softer on issues that matter most to pilots, Morse said. She will still demand higher wages and fight to undo outsourcing by United, which shifted to its United Express contract partners flights that were handled by United's grounded Boeing 737 fleet.

"Our approach may have changed, but the goals have not changed," said Morse, a Boeing 777 captain based in Chicago, who is the first woman to head a major airline pilots union. "Our intent is to engage the company. ... If we have to be confrontational, we will certainly do that. But that's not our first choice."

Morse has the credentials to back up the tough talk, having been a member of the negotiating team that hammered out a new contract in 2000 that was the richest in the industry. At the time United pilots were accused of hamstringing operations by refusing overtime flying during the storm-plagued summer months, triggering delays and cancellations.

"I think Wendy's going to be tough but fair," said Bill Swelbar, an airline researcher at MIT. "Tough but fair is a good attribute in a negotiator."

But as tensions run high around the airline industry, Morse and other union leaders face a herculean task. They have to win concessions from companies struggling to find their financial footing, while satisfying workers who have waited for years to regain pay that they sacrificed to help the airlines survive earlier downturns. United pilots lost half of their pay as well as their pensions during the carrier's three-year bankruptcy, Morse noted.

These are the first contract negotiations at United since those bankruptcy years, and United workers who have been locked into lower wages are understandably itchy to speed the process that could eventually boost their pay. The airline, for the first time in its history, is simultaneously negotiating with all of its unions.

About 1,800 flight attendants walked picket lines at airports around the globe Thursday in support of accelerating talks that have been under way since spring 2009.

"Flight attendants are saying to management, 'Get busy,'" said Sara Nelson, a United flight attendant and spokeswoman for the Association of Flight Attendants.

United officials say they, too, don't want the contract process to drag out, pointing to the fact that the company called in mediators last summer to keep talks moving.

"Notwithstanding the challenges that exist in our industry today, we have consistently said we would like to reach mutually beneficial agreements with our unions that provide for competitive wages, benefits and work rules, enabling our employees and our company to succeed," said United spokeswoman Megan McCarthy.

A 25-year United veteran, Morse also must unify the 6,700 members of the United chapter of the Air Line Pilots Association, which was riven by her narrow victory over Wallach last fall. He was a controversial figure whose promise to stand up to management backfired when Tilton and United won a restraining order against the union for allegedly encouraging a "sickout" by junior pilots.

Still, Wallach's methods resonated with some, and his supporters tried unsuccessfully to oust Morse before she took office, sources said.

Morse is joining United's board as a director, and will gain her first chance to press her case when she meets United CEO Glenn Tilton on Monday. Her change in leadership style already is evident on the union's Web site, which has dropped a feature that periodically instructed pilots to report to work without their caps. It was a display of defiance that was lost on passengers but not on irritated supervisors.

"We will utilize both a carrot and a stick and whatever other tools make sense at the time," Morse wrote in a Jan. 1 letter to pilots. "As you know, a carrot is worthless if the other side views it as a sign of weakness rather than an opportunity to move forward. A stick is just a stick if it is simply wielded."